Customer Reviews

Tai Chi Chuan and the Code of Life

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Tai Chi has been important to me for decades, and I respect my teacher (not Mr. Horwood). Nevertheless, my practice has attained only a modest level of sophistication, and the benefits I have derived have been modest. In searching the literature for help, I have found no shortage of impenetrable and flowery metaphor. I've found very little that is really practically helpful. This book is short, but it is very tightly written. It gives enough history to understand the many different guises under which Tai Chi appears. It explains clearly just WHY my practice is of limited value. It gives extremely accessible and functional approaches to improvement. Along the way, it imposes a body of knowledge of related symbols that is quite extensive. This "symbolic logic" has to be more than just memorized. A person has to "soak it in" so that it becomes a sort of second nature. If I can make an analogy to the production of a fine violin, the "symbology" is a "finish" that must not be "on the wood" but actually a "part of" the wood itself. Having prepared properly, the forms can then be used harmoniously. This seems to me a very excellent and expeditious approach. In only a couple of years of dedicated (extensive) practice, important gains can reasonably be expected. I have found nothing else like this---nothing nearly practical. It is a gift, but it isn't a free gift. Lots of study and lots of practice are needed, too. As Mr. Horwood says, if it were easy, it would hardly be worthwhile. Thanks so much.

This book is extremely spiritual and interesting. The book has actually changed my life. Before reading this book I was remarkably unhealthy and often had health complaints. Since reading this book I have completely changed by dietary and exercise patterns, with a surprisingly positive result. It took some time and a lot of dedication and perseverance but the result was astounding. Graham Horwood is a genius and I feel I owe him a great deal, as he not only changed my outlook on life but also improved my health and vitality, which after all is the most important aspect of living a good life. An absolute must buy!

Jessica Kingsley Publishers, under its Singing Dragon imprint, has been putting out some very interesting and unusual titles related to taiji and qigong lately, and this is one of them. Really, the publisher has found quite a rich vein to mine here, because rather than martial arts how-to books (although there is a little bit of hands-on guidance to be found at the tail end of this book) the offerings look at these Chinese arts through the unusual and creative lenses of practitioners, often Western, who have something different to say.

This book is one of them. Graham Norwood is quite steeped in Yang Style tai chi and appears to be privy to family perspectives most practitioners never hear. These gems are scattered throughout a text that brings Norwood's own experiences as a Jungian therapist to bear not only on the art, but on the philosophy and medicine behind it. I found the parallels and comparisons between Jung's work and ancient Chinese philosophy to be an intellectually fascinating gambit, though sometimes they felt like a bit of a stretch. No matter, though, because in the process of deciding to agree or not agree with any of Norwood's hypotheses, the reader is, perforce, looking at the arts and their history in a fresh way.

The book goes beyond Jungian perspectives. The author has a wide-ranging intellect, drawing on Western history and philosophy (the Greeks!) and modern biology and mathematics too. All in all the book reads like an extended, interesting conversation about how one can relate the logic and worldview of tai chi to a number of other academic and professional fields, punctuated by the author's desire to get up and show you how a particular movement actually works. It's a different book, and I think it has a place in the library of the devoted practitioner.

I work for a Stock brokers in the city of London and can finish the day extremely stress out. Graham Horwood's book gave me an incite into relieving stress, through both exercise (Tai Chi) and healthy eating. I highly recommend this book.